Posted on 11/11/2006 10:34:16 AM PST by libertylovinactivist
Republican leaders seemed to think of social conservatives as easy dupes. A couple of months ago the Republican leaders of the House and Senate put on a show for us, bringing to the floor a number of bills they knew would fail. The flag burning amendment and the federal marriage amendment are examples. It would be one thing if the leaders really believed in these bills, if they put time and effort into passing them, but that hardly seemed to be the case. Instead, the whole thing came off as a charade to keep the social conservatives voting Republican for another cycle.
History will record that in 2006 the Republican Party ran on a record of lip-service and corruption.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajustsociety.org ...
Yeah, we sure showed them...
I do wish Congress would have stuck with Bush on insisting his judges be confirmed and reforming Social Security. Instead they abandoned him. The only consolation is that some of the worst offenders are gone now.
Therefore, the proper fix, is to let them go, and give them the freedom to go wherever they please. In this way we will not be required to coddle them for another stinking election cycle.
This is an extremely thoughtful and bold article. Thanks for posting. I don't like to hear the above, but perhaps as a Chrsitian I need to hear it.
Did you read the article? In it Ken Connor speaks of Christian conservatives who he says "enabled" the GOP. I call it a bold article.
History will record that the Democratic Party always has run on a record of lip-service and corruption. It knows nothing else.
The week after an election is always a time for reflection and soul searching. As Christians engaged in the public square, let us use this time to examine our own consciences. Why are we involved in politics? Is it to fight for justice, stand on principle, and give voice to the voiceless, or is it to deliver votes for the GOP every other year? Are we called to be faithful, or politically expedient? Have we defended and excused wrong doing and wrong doers for the sake of our honorable goals? Are we more concerned with the opinion of "our guys" in Washington, D.C., or with our God in Heaven?BUMP!Many things died on November 7th, 2006. Twelve years of Republican control of the House. Six years of electoral success for President Bush. Four years of GOP Senate control. Perhaps the "inside the beltway" mindset of Christian conservatives will also die. However, death, for the Christian, is certainly not a bad thing, because death always points toward resurrection. Christianity teaches that redemption is always possible, no matter how bleak things appear. For the Christian conservatives, perhaps something died on November 7th, but, thanks be to God, on November 8th we can start again.
I don't think it was conservatives, either social or fiscal, who caused the trouble. It was swing voters and I think a very heavy turnout by the Democrats. Plus a few libertarians, whose numbers are small but may have made a difference in some races.
Christian evangelicals need to form their own party. They are unappeasable and need a separate sand box to work on their castle.
Each cycle has gotten harder, and more difficult to overcome the Democraps.
The trend has been negative since 2000, and it's not going to reverse it's self until they bow out, or the party dumps them. IMO.
They have not enabled. They helped one time, and now are disabling the GOP by abusing their position and causing a rift in the base. Either they settle down, or they will continue to destroy the party and be a liability.
Yes, it's a very bold article that should prompt a lot of serious soul searching.
We are all guilty for allowing corruption to flourish. We failed to demand accountability. And it's probably true that conservatives of nearly all stripes protected the corruption racketeers who became so smitten with absolute power that they sold our their nation and countrymen. Congress became no more than a dirty dealing backroom where tax dollars were traded to special interests in exchange for campaign dollars that filled congressional coffers. Many rogues of the Abramoff ilk became wealthy with taxpayer largess.
They arrogantly thought they could continue to maintain power by conning the base. Well, I for one am very proud of the base for having the courage to boot them from office.
We now have the opportunity to demand moral and honest leadership who can rebuilt the party. Will it happen? I don't know.
I don't think being unappeasable has anything to do with it. In 2004 Christians turned out heavily for Bush, as did nearly everyone on this board. This year they didn't. I think few would argue that things had changed a lot in two years.
I am becoming convinced that there may be no other way. In fact, I have been giving it a lot of thought for about three years, and am nearly convinced that I may be right, since the Schiavo debacle..
Christians already have a party that largely mirrors their political values. Checkout the platform of the Constitution Party.
Personally, I do not support third parties because they cannot win in the two party system. It's best to reform the GOP that we already have. But Christian conservatives must understand that conservatives come in many stripes and a purely Christian agenda does offend a lot of folks because they greatly fear the emergence of theocracy.
Some did, but this was not what turned the election.
We lost the independents and swing voters. They were PO'd at a number of things, but all of them related to social issues or in some cases immigration and the war.
Mostly a fear that if the RNC continued in the majority, that more social freedoms would certainly be lost,(like Internet gambling) and this fear led them to vote for Dem's...
As to Christian conservatives, they failed to turn the election in districts where we placed social issues on the ballot in most every state except Tennessee. They are fickle voters, do not return the favors, and often stay home if they are not totally agitated by some event or purpose. They will ditch a Republican if he had a divorce, for example. This is way too much trouble, and we should not have done some of the stuff we did in the Congress to try to get them to the polls. All we accomplished was to piss off the larger independent swing vote, and this trend will not be reversed without some major issue.
The problem was that because the opinion polls from the Christian right were so negative, they felt they had to do something. This will continue to happen, every cycle, to our detriment.
If we don't do something about this, we will certainly do it after the 08 elections, because the winner of the primary will no doubt be a moderate centrist who will not be able to get their support. The candidate will also get weak support from the fiscal side as well, and we will lose the presidency and more seats.
After '08, the RNC will be in total shambles. We either start realigning now, or in two years. This is how I see it. Now, or later.....It may not really make a difference, but I think we would get a good start for a win in 2012 if we start now. If not, I will assess if I will remain a republican. I have been a loyal party person for 35 years and it is hard to imagine myself as a independent, but I am so disappointed that I don't much care about traditions anymore.
When Republicans lose, they try to be introspective and figure out why. When Democrats lose, there are hysterical tantrums, constant name-calling, mass demonstrations, calls to shut down the government and sabotage things, accusations of fraud and months of lawsuits.
I agree in part. The dims wanted to win more than we did! How do you think pro-abortion dims like Schumer felt about running Casey? Do you think the gun control crowd favored Tester and some of the other centrists? Hell no! But they wanted to win back some power. Now WE GET SCREWED ON SUPREME COURT JUDGES! I HOPE MY FELLOW CONSERVATIVES CAN BASK IN THE GLOW OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AFTER OUR DEVASTATING LOSS. Yes, we should run true blue conservatives in some districts, but we cannot become more purely conservative and win back control of Congress. So, with all that is at stake, do all of my fellow Freepers want to win or lose next time?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.